Wednesday, February 11, 2009

He's Not Old - He's Best


I love that an old dog won Best In Show at Westminster. I wish he was a she – I have so many great ‘old bitch’ lines. Guess I’ll have to hold on to these pearls of comedy and wisdom until I win Miss America – I’m thinking of storming the stage one of these years wearing my best pair of Spanx and wielding my formal wear cane. Lord knows it would add some life to that absurd show.

Stump is 70 – which is 10 in dog years. How cool is that? And he’s a survivor. Stump almost died from a mysterious medical condition. He spent nearly 3 weeks in the hospital before recovering.

I’m not a fan of dog shows. I prefer to see dogs messy and relaxed and having a grand old time humping legs and sniffing each other. I’m not judging Westminster – I’m not qualified to – and I’m sure the show dogs are very well cared for. Their criteria is just not what makes a dog a winner to me.

Which is why Stump touches me. I love his story of overcoming illness and showing the young pups that an old guy can still have his testicles squeezed with the best of them.

Cheers to Stump – well done old guy.

Please visit THE ANIMAL RESCUE SITE And click to help animals that aren’t as lucky as Stump. It’s free, it takes a moment. Do it every single day. If dogs had computers they’d do it for us.

Stump's photo came from THE WESTMINSTER SITE

34 comments:

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

Just a thought, that I wish some children got the same care these animals did. Hugs to ya!!

Unknown said...

That's sweet.

And if you ever decide to storm the state at Miss America - make sure you wear purple! :-)

Daryl said...

I dont think there is a breed or a mutt I ever met that I didnt want to adopt

Jay said...

I've always wanted to toss a bucket full of tennis balls out onto the floor of MSG when the sporting dog group is out there. LOL ;-)

I prefer mutts. Mutts are almost always great dogs.

Real Live Lesbian said...

LOL @ Jay!

He's a cutie, for sure!

Reb said...

Good for old Stump!

Sylvia K said...

Oh, Dianne, I do love the way you put things -- makes my day! I feel the same way about Stumps! That ought to show those stud pups whose who! Maybe you and I could set up our Ms America contest, bet we'd get some winners! I already have an outfit in mind. And we use all of our "old bitch" lines!

Akelamalu said...

I've had pedigrees and Heinz 57 dogs and I prefer Heinz 57. Stump's a cool dog!

Deb said...

You go, Stump!

Anonymous said...

He's standing that tail-tweak very well; I'd be bitin' that mook.

Speedcat Hollydale said...

He looks like any other dog to me ... not a negative comment, I just don't understand the whole show dog concept I guess.

Last year I did a post on the dog show after the PETA people when ballistic. I did not understand that either!!!

Hello from SpeedyCat :-)

Hilary said...

He's a cool old dog but I agree - I don't get the dog show scene. Thanks for the reminder to click on the Animal Rescue Site. Tis a good cause and so easy to help.

Ron said...

WOO! WOO! WOO!

YOU GO STUMP!

GO BOY!!!!...WOOF!

OMG...what heartwarming post, Dianne! I'm like you, not into dog or cat shows. Too much FRU-FRU.

BUT...

...have you ever seen the movie Best In Show?

For some reason, since you and I seem to have the same INSANE sense of humor, I think you'd love it!

Oh, and BTW...you already ARE Miss America!!!

X

Dianne said...

mrs c - I wish all helpless creatures got the care they needed

pagan - of course I'll wear purple, starting with my purple sneakers

daryl - that's my win the lottery dream - get a big farm and take them all in

jay - I'd love to go to MSG with you and do that!!

RLL - yep - Jay is a cutie ;)
and Stump too

reb - he looked happy :)

sylvia - that would be a blast

akelamalu - I've always been partial to mutts

deb - and now he retires in style

deborah - all that stuff gives me the creeps

hilary - it's such a good site :)
Benny is best in show to me

ron - I loved Best in Show!! what a cast!!
speedcat - I don't remember PETA going off on the dog show, I do remember a protest at the cat show due to questionable breeding practices - with all the animals put down each year I don't get all the breeding being done
I have a problem with breeders, even the so called "good" ones.

Speedcat Hollydale said...

Yes, it was headline news last year, and a lot of angry words were exchanged. I have been getting a lot of hits on that peticular post because of this years winner getting so much publicity!

Linda Reeder said...

Ole' Stump was my topic today too.
I love your commentary!

Cherie said...

Congratulations Stump! You're an inspiration to us all. I do like to watch the dog shows from time to time. What can I say? I think puppies are cute. :)

Dianne said...

speedcat - I found the post, your blog is so easy to search
I have to go back and re-read the Valentine post - I love that you ended it with "good luck" lol
I'm very conflicted over the subject of breeding - I suppose I understand the need to continue a breed but when there are so many homeless animals why should there be more - OY!!

linda - great minds ;)

cherie - the dog shows don't bother me - not much - I do wonder if all the dogs are really as happy to be there as some owners claim
I saw a video of a dog being fur styled for hours and he didn't seem relaxed at all - I wanted to kidnap him and let him get all muddy in a field somewhere


actually this got me thinking about the octuplet mom and then my head nearly exploded from the insanity of the world
I think I'll just leave it there
well one other thing - while I think PETA can be extreme at times I think their basic principles are sound

Dianne said...

I messed up my own comment!!
that last paragraph is actually a continuation of my comment to speedcat
I'm such a duh!
and I don't feel like fixing it ;)

gabrielle said...

First thing I thought of was Best in Show. What a quirky movie. Did you happen to catch the cat counterpart? I think it was a tv documentary. If you haven't seen it, just let your imagination run wild.

Jeff B said...

Stump truly is the underdog isn't he?

Anonymous said...

Stump is the man! Top dog!

A. said...

Stump is amazing. I love it!

Allison

the walking man said...

What the hell are (is) Spanx?

Bobkat said...

he really brings menaing to the phrase 'There's still life in the old dog yet!' Lol!

I'm not a fan of dog shows either and in fact the BBC is not screening Crufts this year due to their policy of interbreeding brothers and sisters caising all sorts of abnormalities in the search for the 'perfect' dog. At times these abnormalities result in painful and fatal condiitons for the poor dogs involved. It's so sad.

Dianne said...

gabrielle - I have to try and find the cat counterpart!! It must be fabulous

jeff - he is :)

rob - he's top man ;)

allison - he's a sweet old dog :)

mark - Spanx are undergarments made of magic material - they suck it all in, smooth it all out, push it up, over, and around -
they take hours to get into and god help you if you have to pee but ... ;)

bob-kat - good for the BBC - I thought Crufts had a better reputation than that!! actually I think one of the cable stations here covers Crufts - I have to research now - makes me feel better about my inital comments about breeders - I felt I might be sounding too negative about them BUT they always show their true colors don't they

Diane Mandy said...

I've got a soft spot for Spaniels, anyway, be he was such a cutie pie!

Ivanhoe said...

I watch dog shows here and there and always have my favorite. My fave never wins though. I'm not crazy about spaniels so Stump would not have been my fave, but good for him :o)

Sparkling Red said...

I'm happy that his name is Stump, not Sir Wiggles Foxworthy of Finecoat Winston-Beaushnoz. Animals with fancy shmancy names always make me roll my eyes.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I LOVED LOVED LOVED that "STUMP" won! What a great story....His almost dying and then to come back at Ten Years Old and WIN! HOORAY!

I must say, I loved last years winner too...."UNO" He is such a Dog Dog, you know?

So for me, Westminister has been GREAT for two years in a row!

fermicat said...

What a great story! Way to go, Stump!

Travis Cody said...

I actually had an AKC reject pup when I was a kid. Well, he was more my mom's dog.

His problem was that he didn't have any testicles to be squeezing. They never dropped. I always felt bad for the little guy.

He was a toy fox terrier called Chip Also. We called him Tinker.

CG said...

He's so sweet!

Anonymous said...

I didn't watch, but I did hear ... and was glad an old dog won ;--)
Hugs and blessings,